Word of the Day

Saturday, January 21, 2006

irrefragable

\ih-REF-ruh-guh-buhl\ , adjective;

Impossible to refute; incontestable; undeniable; as, an irrefragable argument; irrefragable evidence.

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Quotes:

I had the most irrefragable evidence of the absolute truth and soundness of the principle upon which my invention was based.

-- Sir Henry Bessemer, Autobiography

On June 4, the Citizen featured an interview with the Joneses' lawyer, R. S. Newcombe, who insisted that at the pending manslaughter trial he would bring "positive, absolute, irrefragable proof from . . . the most eminent scientists in the world" to show that both the Bates and Hunt operations were necessary and that no surgeon could have saved their lives.

-- Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Conduct Unbecoming a Woman

Origin:

Irrefragable derives from Late Latin irrefragabilis, from Latin in-, "not" + refragari, "to oppose."